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Rail News Home MOW

April 2007



Rail News: MOW

Regionals, short lines boost MOW spending to tackle more track and crosstie projects in 2007



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By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor

Like their Class I interchange partners, regionals and short lines plan to maintain and upgrade more track, and add more capacity this year. And like large roads, many small roads have increased their maintenance-of-way (MOW) budgets to achieve those goals.

Of the 25 regional and short-line respondents to our survey, 17 plan to spend more compared with 2006.

For example, Montana Rail Link’s budget is up 23 percent to $21 million primarily because the 900-mile regional will extend a siding near Helena, Mont., by 3,000 feet and extend two yard tracks at one terminal. And Iowa Pacific Holdings L.L.C.’s spending will increase 50 percent to $8.4 million because the holding company is rehabilitating track for three of its four short lines.

But also like the Class Is, many regionals and short lines will dole out more dollars this year because of rising track material costs. Engineering executives contacted at three regionals and two short lines identified higher track component prices as a budget-boosting factor.

“Prices are up on anything made of concrete or steel,” says Wayne Russell, vice president and chief engineer for the 351-mile Florida East Coast Railway L.L.C. (FECR).

Adds Wes Westenhoefer, VP of MOW for the Reading & Northern Railroad Co.: “We just got a quote for [wood] ties and prices are up 15 percent.”

The ties that bind
That’s bad news for the 300-mile Reading & Northern, which plans to install more wood ties this year. After installing 12,000 ties in ’06, the short line will install 35,000 ties in ’07 on three branch lines and its mainline.

However, the good news is that the railroad will receive a total of $1.3 million in state of Pennsylvania grants this year to help boost the short line’s MOW budget 41 percent to $3.1 million.

To rein in material and labor costs — both of which are “going through the roof,” says Westenhoefer — the Reading & Northern tries to hire a contractor after the company completes state-funded work on the short line.

“The contractor’s already on our property,” he says. “We negotiate with them to do other work that we pay for with our capital.”

At Iowa Interstate Railroad Ltd., officials try to purchase track materials well in advance of projects to avoid price increases.

“Last year in fall, we got about half the 50,000 ties we need for this year,” says VP of Engineering Pat Sheldon. “We’ll get half the ties we need again late this year to get an early start in 2008.”

Project materializes
Having ties on hand will help the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway Corp. (NYSW) contain costs for a major track rehabilitation project.

The 400-mile short line plans to spend $2.2 million to upgrade a Central New York Railroad (CNYK) line — which NYSW maintains — between Narrowsburg and Deposit, N.Y.

As part of the project, NYSW will install 25,000 wood ties on 30 track miles, beginning in mid-May. The short line purchased the ties from Koppers Inc. earlier this year.

“The line hasn’t had a tie job since the late 1980s or early 1990s,” says NYSW VP of Engineering Dick Hensel.

The New York State Department of Transportation provided $2 million for the project, helping the short line boost its 2007 MOW budget 65 percent to $7.6 million compared with last year’s expenditures.

Taking Credit
The Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Co.’s (W&LE) budget is getting a boost from a government source, as well. The 840-mile regional — whose MOW spending will increase 9 percent to $8.5 million this year — will apply federal tax credits toward the $1.5 million cost of upgrading track on a River Subdivision line in Ohio.

The project calls for removing 90-pound jointed rail on 7.5 track miles, and installing 115- and 136-pound continuous-welded rail (CWR).

“We’re replacing rail that’s almost 100 years old,” says W&LE VP of Engineering Kasey O’Connor.

The regional will spend more on MOW in ’07 despite a “banner year” in ’06, when W&LE spent more than $10 million because of remaining proceeds from a $25 million Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing loan the railroad obtained in 2004, he says. W&LE installed 19 track miles of CWR and replaced more than 105,000 ties last year.

“We really went to town,” says O’Connor.

FECR spent more than $15 million on MOW in ’06, up several million compared with 2005. This year, the regional plans to boost its budget more than 25 percent to $20.7 million.

The reasons: additional undercutting work and a large fastener program, says FECR’s Russell. The regional will install fasteners on 80,000 ties, a 30 percent increase compared with a typical year, he says.

Out in the lead
FECR also will spend $4.8 million to rebuild the “Medley Rock” lead track in Medley, Fla. The project calls for relaying 44,000 lineal feet of 141-pound CWR, installing 4,100 wood ties and 17 turnouts, undercutting 4.1 track miles and rebuilding six grade crossings with concrete surfaces.

The project is necessary because of the regional’s growing aggregates traffic, says Russell. For a time, FECR officials considered completing only a portion of the work.

“We had thought about using secondhand rail and fewer ties, but then we would have had to come back in a few years and do more work,” says Russell. “We decided to do it in one shot.”

To complete its MOW program, the railroad is trying to complete most work in one fell swoop during 2007’s early months.

“Traffic is lighter and we want to get the physical labor-intensive work out of the way before the heat and humidity rise in summer,” says Russell.

2007 MOW Plans
(By budget amount)

Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern/Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroads
2007 MOW budget:
$51.3 million (without RRIF loan)
2006 MOW budget: $47.3 million (without RRIF loan)
Reason for increase: Spent $14 million of $48 million RRIF loan on west end project in 2006. Will spend remaining $34 million on project in 2007.
Rail: Replace 117 miles of rail with 115- and 136-pound CWR; replace curves with new premium curve rail.
Ties: Replace or install 183,500 wood ties.
Ballast: Install 300,000 tons.
Grinding/surfacing: Total of 500 miles.
Bridge work: Spend more than $6 million on major projects on west end.
Track equipment to lease/purchase: Purchase regulator, tripp inserters and super cx spikers.
Other significant MOW projects: $48 million west end project north and east of Rapid City, S.D., includes more than 60 miles of new and used CWR, 90,000 ties and about 50 new turnouts; also will install dark track power switches at four siding locations.

Montana Rail Link
2007 MOW budget:
$21 million
2006 MOW budget: $17 million
Reason for increase: One siding extension and two yard track extensions in one terminal.
Rail: Replace or install 15 miles of new and four miles of secondhand 141-, 136- and 115-pound rail.
Sidings: Extend siding near Helena, Mont., by 3,000 feet and replace #11 turnout with #20 turnout, start in April ($780,000). Ballast: Install 70,000 tons.
Ties: Replace or install 105,000 wood ties.
Grinding/surfacing: Grind 1,100 pass miles.
Bridge work: Install new ties on five bridges; perform pier work on two bridges; and complete engineering work on one bridge.
Track equipment to lease/purchase: Two speed swings, one anchor applicator, one tie crane and one OTM retriever.

Florida East Coast Railway
2007 MOW budget:
$20.7 million
2006 MOW budget: $15.4 million
Reason for increase: Accommodate increased volumes and improve velocity.
Rail: Replace or install 23.1 miles with 141-pound CWR.
Ties: Replace or install 20,000 concrete and 16,000 wood ties.
Grinding/surfacing: Grind 730 pass miles; surface 350 miles. Ballast: Install 32,500 tons.
Bridge work: New Boynton Beach ($1.8 million), Melbourn ($1 million) and Fort Pierce ($1 million) bridges; rehab steel repairs ($700,000).
Track equipment to lease/purchase: Spiker, rotary seafire, backhoe and tamper.
Other significant MOW project: Rebuild rock lead in Medley, Fla. ($4.8 million), includes relaying 44,000 LF of 141-pound CWR, installing 17 turnouts and 4,128 ties, and undercutting 4.1 track miles.

North Carolina Railroad Co.
2007 MOW budget:
$15 million
2006 MOW budget: $12 million
Reason for increase: ‘06 projects extending into ‘07.
Double track: 8.7 miles in Jamestown, N.C.
Sidings: Auburn, N.C. (3.5 miles); and Powhatan, N.C. (2.1 miles).
Grinding/surfacing: Grind 32 miles.
Bridge work: New span on Clayton, N.C., bridge ($1 million), begin in third quarter.
Other significant MOW project: Install new signal system between Raleigh and Selma, N.C. ($5 million).

Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad
2007 MOW budget:
$10.3 million
2006 MOW budget: $10.3 million
Rail: Replace or install 15.5 miles of 136-pound rail.
Ballast: Install 35,000 tons.
Ties: Replace or install 27,900 wood ties.
Grinding/surfacing: Total of 60 miles.
Bridge work: Addison Creek four-track bridge project, includes replacing steel and abutments.
Other significant MOW project: Automation of Blue Island Yard hump ($2.8 million); complete in October.

Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway
2007 MOW budget:
$9.3 million
2006 MOW budget: $9.4 million
Rail: Replace or install 7.5 track miles with CWR.
Ballast: Install 54,000 tons.
Ties: Replace or install 32,000 wood ties.
Grinding/surfacing: Surface 150 miles.
Track equipment to lease/purchase: Tie inserter, crane and spike puller.

Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Co.
2007 MOW budget:
$8.5 million
2006 MOW budget: $7.8 million
Rail: Replace or install 15 lineal miles with CWR.
Sidings: Extend Plymouth, Ohio, siding 3,500 feet.
Ballast: Install 20,000 tons.
Ties: Replace or install 80,000 wood ties.
Bridge work: Rehab Benwood Bridge in Bellaire, Ohio, includes shotcrete and pier repairs ($350,000).
Track equipment to lease/purchase: New Jackson 6700S production/switch tamper.
Other significant MOW project: Install 7.5 miles of 136- and 115-pound CWR on River Subdivision to replace worn-out 90-pound joined rail ($1.5 million).

Iowa Pacific Holdings (Four short lines)
2007 MOW budget:
$8.4 million
2006 MOW budget: $5.6 million
Reason for increase: Major rehab projects under way at three short lines; began in 2006 and finish in 2009.
Rail: Replace or install 35 miles of heavier joined rail (used or relay).
Sidings: Ethanol loop track in Levelland, Texas.
Ballast: Install 75,000 tons.
Ties: Replace or install 95,000 wood ties (mostly relay).
Bridge work: Repair 22 timber bridges systemwide; culverts will replace five bridges.
Track equipment to lease/purchase: Added a speed swing, hi-rail Gradall and various hydraulic tools.
Other significant MOW project: Arizona Eastern rehab, 135 miles between Bowie and Miami, Ariz., includes upgrading rail with 90-pound control-cooled rail, replacing 100,000 ties and surfacing 135 miles.

New York, Susquehanna & Western
2007 MOW budget:
$7.6 million
2006 MOW budget: $4.6 million
Reason for increase: Received funding from NYSDOT to rehabilitate track and install sidings.
Sidings: Build 4,000-foot siding in Chenango Forks and 2,200-foot siding in Cortland, N.Y.; build 2,600-foot siding in North Bergen, N.J.
Ties: Install 42,500 wood ties. Ballast: 30,000 tons.
Bridge work: Steel repairs to one bridge ($150,000).
Track equipment to lease/purchase: One Hyrail Excavator (CAT 320).
Other significant MOW project: CNYK Railroad, includes installing 24,957 ties and electrode, and surfacing/ballast work on 45 miles ($2.2 million).

Iowa Interstate Railroad Ltd.
2007 MOW budget:
$7.1 million
2006 MOW budget: $16 million
Reason for decrease: Completed two-year project to rebuild main track and bridges to 286k standard in ‘06.
Rail: Replace or install 6.2 miles with CWR.
Ties: Replace or install 50,000 wood ties.
Other significant MOW project: Incorporate former CBGR yard purchased in 2006 with IAIS yard in Council Bluffs, Iowa, includes designing interchange tracks with BNSF. The multi-year project will conclude in 2009.

Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co.
2007 MOW budget:
$5.8 million
2006 MOW budget: $4.2 million
Reason for increase: Laying 11 miles of new 115-pound CWR and 45,000 ties in 2007.
Rail: Replace or install 11 miles with CWR.
Ballast: Install 14,000 tons.
Ties: Replace or install 45,000 wood ties.
Bridge work: Budgeting $1.2 million to replace three bridges and repair six bridges systemwide.
Track equipment to lease/purchase: Two new Tripp machines, one new Nordic Spiker and one ballast regulator.
Other significant MOW project: Fox Lake CWR program, includes relaying 12 miles of rail, rebuilding one bridge and replacing nine switches ($4.9 million).

OmniTrax Inc. (17 short lines)
2007 MOW budget:
$5.6 million
2006 MOW budget: $5.1 million
Reason for increase: Material cost increases.
Rail: Replace one to two miles of curved rail; install about one mile of CWR and one mile of jointed rail.
Ballast: Install 24,000 tons (U.S.); 34,000 tons (Canada).
Ties: install 42,000 (U.S.) and 20,000 (Canada) wood ties.
Grinding/surfacing: 110 miles (U.S.); 50 miles (Canada).
Bridge work: Rehab 23 bridges in U.S. ($575,000) and three bridges in Canada ($150,000).
Track equipment to lease/purchase: Four hi-rail trucks, one spiker/puller and one backhoe.

RJ Corman Railroads (Nine short lines)
2007 MOW budget:
$4.8 million
2006 MOW budget: $4.8 million
Rail: Replace or install two miles with CWR.
Ballast: Install 11,000 tons.
Ties: Replace or install 7,000 wood ties.
Other significant MOW projects: Two-mile rail changeout; mainly ties and some surfacing.

Providence & Worcester Railroad
2007 MOW budget:
$3.5 million
2006 MOW budget: $4.7 million
Reason for decrease: Completed eight bridge clearances between Worcester, Mass., and Willimantic, Conn., in 2006.
Rail: Install 3.2 miles of 141- and 115-pound rail.
Ballast: Install 15,000 tons.
Ties: Replace or install 25,000 wood ties.
Grinding/surfacing: Surface 35 miles.
Bridge work: Replace three bridges in Woonsocket and Valley Falls, R.I., and Lisbon, Conn.

New Orleans Public Belt Railroad
2007 MOW budget:
$3.4 million
2006 MOW budget: $3.3 million
Reason for increase: Available finances.
Rail: Install 4.5 track miles with 115-pound CWR.
Sidings: South Yard, 1,800 feet, NOLA.
Ballast: Install 10,000 tons.
Ties: Install 4,000 wood and 1,000 steel ties.
Grinding/surfacing: Surface 30 track miles.
Bridge work: Annual Huey P. Long Bridge maintenance budget of $5 million.
Track equipment to lease/purchase: Speed swing, tie inserter, cribber/adzer and spiker.
Other significant MOW project: M/L CWR project, includes upgrading 115-pound jointed rail to 115-pound CWR ($800,000), complete in June.

Reading & Northern Railroad Co.
2007 MOW budget:
$3.1 million
2006 MOW budget: $2.2 million
Reason for increase: Installing more ties in 2007.
Rail: Replace or install 12,000 LF of CWR.
Ballast: Install 9,000 tons.
Ties: Replace or install 35,000 wood ties.
Grinding/surfacing: Grind 45 miles; surface 65 miles.
Track equipment to lease/purchase: Lease rotary dump truck for tunnel cleaning.

The Indiana Rail Road Co.
2007 MOW budget:
$3 million
2006 MOW budget: $5.8 million
Reason for decrease: Heavy MOW equipment purchases in 2006.
Sidings: Build 6,000-foot siding in Sullivan, Ind. Ballast: Install 35,000 tons.
Ties: Replace or install 10,000 wood ties.
Grinding/surfacing: Grind 100 pass miles.
Bridge work: General maintenance, including caps, stringers, deck ties and piling ($685,000).
Other significant MOW project: CSX connection at Sullivan, $3.2 million, will facilitate movement of Indiana coal between a new Carlisle mine and Indianapolis.

Raritan Central Railway
2007 MOW budget:
$2.2 million
2006 MOW budget: $600,000
Reason for increase: Projected traffic increase.
Rail: Replace or install three miles of rail.
Sidings: In Edison and Woodbridge, N.J.
Other significant MOW project: Building products reload, includes rebuilding 3,000 feet of track and building second track for transloading, $610,000.

Pioneer Railcorp (16 short lines)
2007 MOW budget:
$1.8 million
2006 MOW budget: $1.5 million
Reason for increase: Maintenance and rehabilitation of mainline track; upgrade mainline to 286k.
Rail: Replace or install two to three miles of jointed rail.
Ballast: Install 3,000 to 5,000 tons.
Ties: Replace or install 35,000 wood ties (relays).
Bridge work: Rehab bridge, Midwest, deck ties, $125,000.
Other significant MOW project: Track rehab, Keokuk Junction Railway Co.’s La Harpe Branch, 87 miles, includes maintaining track to Class II standards and renewing ties with relay ties, $850,000.

Lancaster & Chester Railway Co.
2007 MOW budget:
$900,000
2006 MOW budget: $550,000
Reason for increase: Bridge replacement.
Sidings: Build 1,200-foot siding in Chester County, S.C.
Ties: Replace or install 10,000 to 12,000 wood ties.
Bridge work: Replace trestle with box culvert and fill, Lancaster County, S.C., $250,000.
Other significant MOW project: Siding to connect to new industry, $175,000, start in October and complete in May 2008.

Farmrail System (Two short lines)
2007 MOW budget:
$780,000
2006 MOW budget: $400,000
Reason for increase: Anticipate better grain harvest in 2007.
Rail: Replace or install 0.5 mile of jointed rail.
Sidings: Build 500-foot industrial track for new customer in Sayre, Okla.
Ballast: Install 10,000 tons.
Ties: Replace or install 22,000 wood ties.
Bridge work: Encase h-piles with concrete collars to increase strength and integrity, Ames, Okla., $110,000, start in April.
Track equipment to lease/purchase: Purchase Hyrail truck; lease one backhoe.

Maryland Midland Railway
2007 MOW budget: $606,298
2006 MOW budget: $443,825
Reason for increase: Increased bridge rehab budget; increasing costs.
Rail: Replace or install 0.5 mile of jointed rail.
Ballast: Install 7,800 tons.
Ties: Replace or install 6,705 wood ties.
Bridge work: Two retimbering projects, one concrete abutment repair and several miscellaneous steel repairs ($380,000).
Other significant MOW project: Lehigh Cement access track, includes building one mile of track to serve cement plant, $900,000, complete in September.


Ottawa Central Railway
2007 MOW budget:
$481,000
2006 MOW budget: $444,000
Reason for increase: Increase safety on customer’s tracks, sidings and yards.
Rail: Maintain only, 100-pound bolted. Ballast: Install 200 tons (maintenance).
Ties: Replace or install 3,700 wood and 300 switch ties.
Grinding/surfacing: Surface 12 miles (four subdivisions).
Bridge work: Maintenance work systemwide; replaced one bridge ($250,000).
Track equipment to lease/purchase: Lease lift machine, ballast regulator, tie injector and brushcutter; purchase rail drill and hydraulic impact bolter.
Other significant MOW project: Reconstruct two tracks at Walkley Yard in Ottawa to provide 8,500 more feet of car storage space, complete in June.

Madison Railroad
2007 MOW budget:
$400,000
2006 MOW budget: $400,000
Ties: Replace or install 100 wood ties. Ballast: Install 100 tons.
Bridge work: Rehabilitate five bridges between Madison and North Vernon, Ind., $1.5 million, complete in spring.
Other significant MOW project: Bridge rehabilitation, includes rehab of deteriorated stones on abutment walls, piers, install joints in wing walls, grout stones, replace pedestal caps and concrete on frame bents, re-shim bents, install 70 bridge timbers and weeps, and repair bearings; complete in summer.

Greenville & Western Railway Co. L.L.C.
2007 MOW budget:
$72,000
2006 MOW budget: $12,000
Reason for increase: Began operations in October 2006.
Ties: Install 1,200 wood ties.
Other significant MOW project: O’Neal Street crossing rehab, Belton, S.C., $10,000, includes repairing approaches, ties, sub-roadbed and crossing timber.



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